Is USDA changing its sugar consumption estimates? Why?

If I weren’t so concerned about USDA’s dropping its data on calories in the food supply (see previous post), I might not have become so alarmed about the New York Times report on the sudden drop in estimates of sugar consumption.

USDA provides data on amounts reported as consumed, from 1970 to 2011.

These have declined, not necessarily because people are eating less but because USDA changed its methods.

According to the Times account:

In e-mails the center obtained through a Freedom of Information request, officials at sugar industry trade groups discussed the benefits of the lower estimate and how they might persuade the U.S.D.A. to make a change that would reduce it even more.

“We perceive it to be in our interest to see as low a per-capita sweetener consumption estimate as possible,” Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis at the American Sugar Alliance, wrote in an e-mail on March 30, 2011.

It’s not really that hard to believe. There are:
4 grams of sugar in a teaspoon
113.5 teaspoons in a pound
37.83 teaspoons in a third of a pound…

A 20 ounce soda (as proven by the reaction in NYC, is considered by many Americans to be one serving) contains approximately 15 teaspoons. How many people do you know that consume more than one? Two would get you almost there.

A slice of white bread (the kind typically eaten by Americans) easily contains approx 3 teaspoons of sugar. Average sandwich without even touching the sugary sauces can be 6 teaspoons in the bread alone.

… and you’re most of the way there. Many coffee and tea beverages have similar levels of sugar: eg, 53 g in a Starbucks Grande Dulce de Leche Frappuccino Blended Creme, and 81 g in a Grande No-Whip Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème. And the thing is, there’s sugar in nearly everything processed these days. Eg., the average American gets even more sugar from breads than s/he does from cereal:http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/88/6/1722S/F4.expansion.html

… like, say, the 26 g in a Starbucks Walnut Bran Muffin, the 10-13 g in nearly all chains’ bagels, etc. And most restaurant food these days is loaded with the stuff, in obvious and not-so-obvious ways.